A Thought About Judd Winick

For the first time in 9 years I’m writing and drawing a book. Embarking on this is about as close as I’m gonna get to a mid-life crisis.

— Judd Winick.(@JuddWinick) August 28, 2012

With that, Judd Winick made it official that he was leaving DC comics and striking out on his own. For many people this was nothing more than a footnote in a tumultuous couple of weeks at DC. However, for long-time fans of Winick this was a significant development. With Winick leaving his DC exclusive contract (and before that, Marvel) it means that we could possibly see the release of Barry Ween in Space!!!

Barry Ween is probably the most foul-mouthededly hilarious comic book character I have ever read. I once gave a copy of Barry Ween to a friend post prostate cancer surgery because it was the only thing I could think of that could cut through all the pain and deliver some sense of joy. In short, Barry Ween is amazing. And I miss him.

Back in 2010 he said:Currently, Winick is looking forward to a return to “Barry Ween.” “Thankfully, after, like, an eight-year hiatus, I’m actually – swear to God – I’m actually doing more ‘Barry Ween.’ I’m writing it now.” He admitted that he’s nervous about taking up the fan-favorite series again. “I haven’t done it in a long time. Can I still be this funny? Do I still have this edge? I hope I do. It just takes a little while to get my ‘Barry Ween’ hat on again and make it work.”

The next story will see Barry Ween in space. “I just had to find that inner monologue of what it was for Barry to be irritated about, and what Barry is irritated about is that space travel, for us here on Earth, is a joke. Just a joke. And there’s nothing more interesting or inviting than space travel, and we don’t care about it at all. People grouse about how much money NASA spends, but no one’s ever going to get the job done. Who are the people who are going to get to space? The scientists at NASA, and we’re not giving them any money to do it. These guys grew up watching way too much ‘Star Trek’ and spending way too much time at home going through books. These guys, these Asperger’s-riddled, never-had-a-date-in-years guys need $30 billion just to get something even started, and we’re not giving them that. Andy, by the way, wonders who wants to deal with us human beings in space anyway?”

Winick had originally announced “Barry Ween: Boy Genius in Space” years ago, and he said the book he’s writing will be a bit different from the one he had conceived back then. “It’s funny – when I started forming this idea way back when, it was all about ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Star Wars’ references. And now it’s gone all ‘Battlestar Galactica’ and ‘Doctor Who.’”

But, DC kept him extremely busy, and those exclusive contracts are notoriously unforgiving about allowing creator-owned projects to be published through other companies (Barry Ween was originally published through Oni Press). Time went on and Barry Ween faded once again into the background.

I would like to think that the project he tweeted about was Barry Ween in Space. But it isn’t. All reports are that he is working on an all-ages book. Barry Ween is anything BUT all-ages. So here’s to hoping the Barry Ween is in the can and this is another project he had cooking in the back of his head.